Banner image: Students from UTC get to grips with anatomy at Sheffield University

The UTC is unique and enjoyable, the class sizes here are smaller and the teachers can focus more on you. It’s a much tighter environment, here you really are part of a team.

Y12 student Tom has recently applied for a place to study medicine at university.

Tom joined the UTC last September and is studying Health Sciences alongside A Levels in biology, chemistry and maths. Discussing why he thought UTC would help him reach his goal, he said, ‘I decided to come to UTC because of the technical element. I knew I wanted to do medicine and which A Levels I was going to pick but I could do those anywhere. UTC offered practical skills as well as knowledge and I think it’ll really help me stand out when applying for university.’

Tom has already started to benefit from the practical technical learning at UTC, ‘In health we learn about all the values in healthcare and medicine, as well as the importance of confidentiality. The facilities here are really good, I especially like the set-up ward, it’s just like a real hospital.’

The UTCs link with the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, as well as the University of Sheffield, helped Tom to make his choice about UTC: ‘Working with the teaching hospitals is almost like a mentor programme, you can communicate with them and ask them for information. I don’t think other schools have the same relationship with them. I have had plenty of opportunities to develop my application for medical school which was sent off earlier this year’

Continuing: ‘I also had help finding a work placement in a GP surgery. This was really interesting as it gave me a huge insight into what I can do after I graduate. This was a very privileged experience as it is very hard to find work experience in a GP but with the help of the UTC, I managed to find this amazing opportunity.’

He continues, ‘Yesterday SRSB (Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind) came into our lessons to help us in our communication unit and at some point this term we will go to the teaching hospitals and have to act out a scenario to test our communication skills.’

Discussing his UTC experience so far, Tom said, ‘The UTC is unique and enjoyable, the class sizes here are smaller and the teachers can focus more on you. It’s a much tighter environment, here you really are part of a team.’